Women’s Basketball dominates in the Empire 8 Tournament

Photo courtesy of Geneseoknights.com

The Knights' thrilling 66-63 victory in the Empire 8 Tournament secures their spot in the NCAA Tournament. They’ll face Catholic University in Washington, D.C., on Mar. 7.

On Saturday, Feb. 26, the Women’s Basketball team won their third and final game in the Empire 8 Tournament with a 66-63 lead for a close game. This means the team will be moving on to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament. The Knights played an exciting game at SUNY Brockport, which brought them one step closer to a four-game winning streak. 

They started off the first quarter strong before the first minute was over, with a beautiful layup in the paint by senior guard Mackenzie Reigle and an assist from junior guard Eva Elliot. With some good jumpers inside and out of the paint by players like Reigle, graduate student guard Kiley Snow, and sophomore forward Audrey Hintz, Geneseo kept their lead for the first quarter.

The Knights did impressively well on the defensive side of their skill set, making rebound after rebound, thanks to players like sophomore forward Kristin Suydam and defensive rebounds made by Reigle. The first quarter was a nail-biter, with turnovers and ball possession awarded to Brockport as they quickly trailed behind our Lady Knights, but that did not seem to rattle their nerves as they kept the score up. 

With the first quarter coming to a close, Geneseo made substitutes and set out to finish the first quarter with clean free throws from Snow and jump shots from junior forward Grace Galgano. The Knights finished with a three-point lead going into the second quarter.

Once again, not even a minute into the quarter, the Knights threw up two more points on the board as Galgano followed through with a successful layup in the paint. Geneseo kept their defense strong with more unsurprising rebounds and defended rebounds to take and keep control of the ball. With a good tip-in by Snow and the assist by Galgano, the Knights did not miss a beat, putting in more than 10 points two minutes into the second quarter. 

Even though the Knights were at a back-and-forth with Brockport for the first two quarters, the visiting team was determined to show up and show out with a seven-point lead at the halfway point of the game. 

After an unfortunate start to the third quarter, Geneseo was fouled and gave away two free shots to Brockport— both of which were made successfully. Not even a minute later, Suydam made a good layup in the paint to keep the Knights at the seven-point lead they started with. Geneseo struggled with three-point baskets on Friday but performed well under pressure. This did not stop them from making powerful jump shots and clean layups, however, which kept Brockport at bay during the game. 

Geneseo’s defense worked overtime during the first two quarters and did not let up for the third as Hintz, Elliot, and Galgano helped to regain possession and attack Brockport’s offense. Going to the final quarter, the Knights were set back two points, sitting at 49-47, following Brockport’s lead. 

As they started rocky, Geneseo had some catching up to do as they finished the game on a high note. Snow and junior guard Maggie McGrane were killing it defensively, stealing the ball and carrying it to the basket to make nice layups— which was not Snow’s first nor last of the day. Hintz did not let up with rebound after rebound, yet again allowing Geneseo to steal back the ball and raise the score to finish out the game with the lead. 

The Knights slowly made their way to the finish line with an incredibly close three-point lead, winning the game 66-63. On Mar. 7, they will travel to Washington, DC, to play Catholic University and participate in the NCAA Tournament.